South Korea boys survives thriller with 2-2 draw
South Korea boys survives thriller with 2-2 draw
JAKARTA (JP): Red-hot favorite South Korea spared itself any
humiliation against spirited Kuwait at the Asian Youth Under-19
soccer championship yesterday with a 2-2 draw.
The South Korean's, fresh from their convincing 3-1 over
Thailand on Wednesday, careless defense caused them to trail 1-2
before Kim Sung-il snatched the relieving equalizer six minutes
from time the time.
South Korea turned desperate during the last 30 minutes when
Seo Dong-wong squandered a penalty awarded by Lebanese referee
Talal Saleh, following a foul committed by Hamad Al Basri against
Chang Sung-nam in the penalty box.
"We are unlucky. Had we converted on the penalty, we would
have won the hard-fought battle," coach Won Heung-jae said. Won
praised his opponents for staging an excellent challenge.
Having the physical advantage, South Korea set out in the
match with lackluster play, drilling long passes towards Kuwait's
goalmouth but meaning nothing to the ruthless Middle Eastern
defense.
Kuwait blew its sting with an 18th minute goal when Yousef Al
Rashidi breezed a rebound past South Korean goalie Noh Su-man and
sent the ball to the far post as three South Korean defenders
attempted a vain clearance.
It took South Korea 16 minutes to resurface when Park Sung-bae
drove a long pass from Ahn Jung-hwan to the net left vacant by
the stranded goalkeeper Yousef Fyth, a reserve for Kuwait's
number one goalie Abdullah Ashour.
But Kuwait, relying much on counter attacks, struck another
goal seven minutes after the break through a penalty executed by
Nohayr Al Shammari.
The tooth and nail battle forced the referee to flash eight
yellow cards, each side receiving four.
Other draw
Yesterday's other Group B match pitting Thailand against
Bahrain ended also in a 1-1 lackluster draw.
Hungry to win the match after losing 3-1 to South Korea two
days ago, Thailand was too hurried in its aggressive attacks,
thereby missing some important goal opportunities.
This was confirmed by Thailand's coach, Chatchai Paholpat,
after the match. "We really expected to win this match in order
to qualify for the semifinals," Chatchai said. He added that his
team relied too much on Tawan Sripan's attacking ability.
Boosted by their hopes of winning, the Thais succeeded in
taking control of the match. Everytime they launched an attack,
though, practically the whole Bahraini team always shielding the
goal.
On the other hand, Bahrain's overprotection on defense made it
difficult for them to score. Every time one of its booters led
the ball over near their enemy's goal post, nobody was there to
help him nudge it in.
However, after a dull 0-0 draw in the first half, Yaser Saleh
Kadham of Bahrain unexpectedly hit an easy goal in the 62nd.
Yaser way out in front of his teammates, the Thais hotly
pursued him, knocking down Thailand's goalie Wacharapong and
easily kicking the ball into the unguarded goal.
Thailand finally equalized the score in the 75th through
Kiatisuk after several off-target attacks on Bahrain's heavily
guarded goal.
Standings
Group A
1. Syria 2 2 0 0 6-1 6
2. Iraq 3 2 0 1 7-4 6
3. Qatar 3 1 1 1 4-6 4
4. Indonesia 2 0 1 1 1-5 1
5. Kazakhstan 2 0 0 2 4-6 0
Group B
1. S. Korea 2 1 1 0 5-3 4
2. Thailand 3 1 1 1 5-5 4
3. Japan 2 1 0 1 2-2 3
4. Kuwait 2 0 1 1 3-3 3
5. Bahrain 3 0 2 1 2-4 2
Today's fixtures:
Qatar vs Syria, 5.30 p.m.
Indonesia vs Kazakhstan, 7.30 p.m.